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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the racial distribution of members of jury panels. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 62.004, Government Code, is amended by |
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adding Subsection (g) to read as follows: |
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(g) A party may request that a jury list that is not racially |
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or ethnically representative of the community according to the most |
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recent federal decennial census be discarded or reorganized in |
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order to make it more likely that a panel selected from the list is |
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racially and ethnically representative of the community. |
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SECTION 2. Section 62.011(b), Government Code, is amended |
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to read as follows: |
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(b) A plan authorized by this section for the selection of |
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names of prospective jurors must: |
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(1) be proposed in writing to the commissioners court |
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by a majority of the district and criminal district judges of the |
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county at a meeting of the judges called for that purpose; |
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(2) specify that the source of names of persons for |
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jury service is the same as that provided by Section 62.001 and that |
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the names of persons listed in a register of persons exempt from |
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jury service may not be used in preparing the record of names from |
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which a jury list is selected, as provided by Sections 62.108 and |
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62.109; |
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(3) provide a fair, impartial, and objective method of |
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selecting names of persons for jury service with the aid of |
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electronic or mechanical equipment; |
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(4) designate the district clerk as the officer in |
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charge of the selection process and define his duties; [and] |
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(5) provide that the method of selection either will |
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use the same record of names for the selection of persons for jury |
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service until that record is exhausted or will use the same record |
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of names for a period of time specified by the plan; and |
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(6) provide that a panel be racially and ethnically |
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representative of the community according to the most recent |
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federal decennial census and provide for a panel replacement |
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procedure if the panel is not representative and a party requests |
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that it be representative. |
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SECTION 3. Section 62.0132, Government Code, is amended by |
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adding Subsection (h) to read as follows: |
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(h) The information in a completed questionnaire for a |
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potential juror in a litigant's trial shall be made available to a |
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litigant or litigant's attorney not later than three days before a |
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trial begins. |
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SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to a proceeding that commences on or after the effective date of |
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this Act. A proceeding that commences before the effective date of |
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this Act is governed by the law in effect when the proceeding |
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commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for that |
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purpose. |
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SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |